Mystery power drain

[Beachbummer]

Hello Folks, This will be a slow hunt, as it's too hot and I don't have much time with all the boating I'm trying to get in before summer's over...BUT

Something is taking 0.03 Amps of power when the master switch is enabled to a battery,, and everything else is switched to off. Everything is powered off that I can tell. I have Lenco electric tabs that have an always on power feed to allow return to the top position when power is "shut off" to the signal wire. I disconnected that and the parasitic drain did not dissapear. I disconnected the voltage regulators, that also was not it. I checked the light in the enclosure, not it. no ground to added ACR, still not it. Disconnected other random things, still not it. I will attack again when there's more time, but I welcome your ideas on what parasitic loads might be present reducing my battery quite a bit if I leave the main switch powered.

The only reason I like doing that is that my Bilge pump is wired through it, and although rare, I do leave the boat overnight in the water before the Marina will move it to Dry Stack. I don't want to leave it without the bilge and float powered.

Worst case I will wire one of the pumps to the battery and extra float, but still I am curious and would like to find this unexpected small drain. Next is to disconnect load from some relays in case any are leaking/sticking somehow.

I have a clamp on AmpMeter, but it is not sensitive enough. I hoped to "Magic Wand" around to trace the power, but no go with this clamp.

Please share your ideas!

Thanks!

 

[buckbuck]

I am not sure if your meter has the capability but with 0.03 amps you can put your meter in line with the circuit. I found that easiest with the negative side.

 

[Beachbummer]

Yes, sorry, I did do that, and it read at the battery, that's how i was troubleshooting. The pain of course is that each item must be disconnected vs clamped on, which I hoped would yield a faster find.

 

[TeeNGee]

Do you have a 5v USB charge port?

 

[Joatmon]

I feel your pain. I had the same issue for two years with my Scarab. Local dealer said there was not a parasitic electrical leak and nothing was wrong. If I turned off the master disconnect my battery would be completely dead after one week so I had to disconnect the battery after every use. At one time Scarab said they would have their "Florida development team" look into it but they never came through.

After working on the problem for two years and getting help from a Jetboaters contributor I got it resolved. Long story short the issue was miswiring at the junction box from the factory during assembly. Still not sure if it was due to Scarab or Rotax.

I am not familiar with Yamaha but what I had to do was leave all the battery connections in place then shut off the main disconnect. I know not all of the connected wires to battery positive post go through main disconnect so make sure the wiring is what it would have been from factory. Using an amp meter remove one position post connection at a time and read current flow in milliamps. Once you find the wire that has current draw from your battery with the main disconnect off you will have to trace the exact leak source on that feed. You really need a schematic to track the wires and find the leaking source. Obviously since my issue was with a new boat and yours just started something such as motor, relay or wire connection has shorted to ground.

Get a multi meter from Harbor Freight if you have to. A clamp amp meter will not work. You have to read the electrical flow in milliamps through the meter. I suggest getting several replacement fuses for the meter because you will accidently overload the meter and pop a fuse.

See if you can gets your hands on an electrical schematic which will have trace the wire you found to be consuming power. Sorry I can't help you finding Yamaha schematics. Good luck.

 

[Beachbummer]

Thanks. I expect I'll continue to attack over the fall and winter as weather improves.

 

[Beachbummer]

Do you have a 5v USB charge port?

No accessories plugged it. Including USB port. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[sunbyrned]

No accessories plugged it. Including USB port. Thanks for the suggestion.

I think the USB is a good suggestion. I had a draw on my motorcycle and I believe the USB was the culprit. Google says a USB port draws power even if nothing is plugged into it. Maybe worth trying to disconnect it and see.

 

[Beachbummer]

Yes, to clarify, no usb charger is on the boat now.